NASCAR champion Joey Logano and MLB star Chipper Jones engage in a war of words
An unusual feud between two greats of their respective fields.
Reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano and former Atlanta Braves MLB star Chipper Jones engaged in a bitter war of words following the Talladega race.
During the Jack Link’s 500 race at Talladega Superspeedway on 27 April, Penske driver Logano was unimpressed with teammate Austin Cindric giving away the Stage 2 win to 23XI Toyota rival Bubba Wallace, prompting an expletive-laden message over team radio.
"Way to go, Austin," Logano said at that time. "Way to go you dumb f***. Way to f****ing go. What a stupid s***. God! He just gave it to him. Gave it to him. Gave a Toyota the stage win. Nice job. Way to go. What the f***."
While Cindric, who went on to win the race, wasn’t offended by Logano’s comments, former basketball legend Jones was unhappy with Logano’s sportsmanship.
He wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “Congrats to @AustinCindric on his @TALLADEGA win. Good teammates are hard to come by, Boss!
“Remember that one of urs MFed u on national tv when in all actuality, u did everything possible to keep from wrecking him. Hate to be #dueces in the ‘team’ meeting on Monday.
“Some people are ‘hooray for our team as long as I’m the star’ as every team has them. Hendrick, RCR, JGR, Penske, etc. Sometimes karma is glorious. Enjoy this one! In case anyone is confused, lemme be clear…. @joeylogano.”
After Logano was disqualified from the race for technical reasons, Jones posted: “My day just keeps getting better!”
Three-time Cup Series champion Logano has now hit back at Jones’ comment, saying a former athlete like him should have a better understanding of how a sporting team works.
"No one else, nobody, Chipper Jones, no race fans, nobody is in the room when we come up with how we’re going to race at superspeedways except the drivers, the team principals at Penske and the crew chiefs,” the 34-year-old told SiriusXM NASCAR.
“Chipper Jones, he seems like a cool dude, he’s done a lot. He’s a pretty popular, good baseball player, but he’s not a race car driver, and I know he wasn’t in the room with us when we set in place the way things are supposed to go.”
He added: “You would think somebody that has been in professional sports and has been in meetings like that would probably take a step back and say, ‘Man there’s probably more to the story here than what there is’. I’m surprised it went that way. Maybe he was just bored. I don’t know what his situation is. I tell you I don’t care.”
After Logano won last weekend’s Cup race in Texas, Jones praised the Penske star on X, suggesting the tensions are easing between the two.
“Congratulations to @joeylogano,” he wrote. “A HOF driver with a masterful win. This is what NASCAR fans expect from you. Hard charging wins and gracious top 5s and 10s. Well done!”
